‘My Little Pony’ movie will be about teenage girls

Josiah Tyrrell, of Syracuse, N.Y., is dressed as the character Flam from the My Little Pony cartoons as he stands with others at “BronyCon” Saturday, June, 30, 2012, in Secaucus, N.J. Scores of men in brightly colored costumes were among the 4,000 My Little Pony fans at the “BronyCon” gathering in New Jersey for fans of a My Little Pony cartoon.

Mel Evans, Associated Press

Summary

The new “Equestria Girls” spinoff comes during the 30th anniversary of My Little Pony, and is a result of the brand’s renewed popularity via the television program “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.”

Next month, the toymaker Hasbro will launch a feature-length animated movie based on its My Little Pony brand. The animators and writers will remain the same as the popular TV cartoon “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.” The main characters, however, will have a new look.

Instead of ponies, they’ll be teenage girls.

“Hasbro created Equestria Girls, a parallel world in which the My Little Pony characters were reconceived as teenage girls in high school,” Gregory Schmidt wrote in Monday’s New York Times. “To maintain continuity, Hasbro retained the same creative talent, animation style and message of friendship. The new property will get the red-carpet treatment when it premieres as a full-length animated feature at the Los Angeles Film Festival in June. The movie, created by Hasbro Studios, the company’s production division, will then be released in more than 200 theaters nationwide; its trailer will start appearing in theaters on Wednesday.”

The new movie’s title is “My Little Pony: Equestria Girls.” The film’s official trailer on YouTube includes this plot synopsis: “When a crown is stolen from the Crystal Empire, Twilight Sparkle pursues the thief into an alternate world where she transforms into a teenage girl who must survive her biggest challenge yet — high school. With help from her new friends who remind her of Ponyville's Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy, she embarks upon a quest to find the crown and change the destiny of these two parallel worlds.”

The Common Sense Media review of “My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic” gives the TV show four stars out of five: “Parents need to know that this series celebrates friendship’s development from first impressions to true connections but the show is part of an extensive product line of toys, games, and accessories, so young fans might be drawn to the brand name after taking an interest in the characters.”

Jamshid Ghazi Askar is a graduate of BYU's J. Reuben Clark Law School and member of the Utah State Bar. Contact him at jaskar@desnews.com or 801-236-6051.